ALBERTO MORAVIA (1907-1980) was a prolific Italian novelist, short-story writer and journalist known for his explorations of modern sexuality, social alienation and existentialism. He remained until his death a cultural icon and presence in Italian public life, and was a perennial contender for the Nobel Prize in Literature, having been nominated 13 times between 1949 and 1965.
Moravia once remarked that the most important facts of his life had been his illness, a tubercular infection of the bones that confined him to a bed for five years and Fascism, because they both caused him to suffer and do things he otherwise would not have done. "It is what we are forced to do that forms our character, not what we do of our own free will."
Critics praised his stark, unadorned style, his exacting attention to psychological complexity and social pretension, his narrative skill and ability to create realistic dialogue. His debut novel, THE TIME OF INDIFFERENCE (1929), is a scathingly realistic study of the moral corruption of a middle-class mother and two of her children; it destroys forever any illusion that a world of ever-growing material comfort can feed the human soul. It became a sensation. Among his more important novels are AGOSTINO [Two Adolescents] (1944); THE WOMAN OF ROME (1947), which calmly strips away the pride and arrogance hiding the corrupt heart of Italian Fascism; and THE CONFORMIST (1951), all on the themes of isolation and alienation. CONTEMPT (1954) is is an unflinching examination of desperation and self-deception in the emotional vacuum of modern consumer society. TWO WOMEN (1957) is a compassionate yet forthright narrative of simple people struggling to survive in war. The sexual realism of THE EMPTY CANVAS (1960), the story of a painter unable to find meaning either in love or work, introduced the psychologically experimental works of the 1970s.
Moravia’s views on literature and realism are expressed in a stimulating book of essays, MAN AS AN END (1963), and his autobiography, LIFE OF MORAVIA (1990). His visit to Africa inspired WHICH TRIBE DO YOU BELONG TO? (1972)
The following books are in PDF format unless otherwise indicated:
== NOVELS ==
* 1934 (FSG, 1983). William Weaver, trans.
* Agostino [included in Five Novels, below]. Beryl de Zoete, trans.
* Agostino (NYRB, 2014). Michael Moore, trans. -- ePUB
* Boredom (NYRB, 1999). Angus Davidson, trans. -- ePUB
* Conformist, The (Steerforth, 1999). Tami Calliope, trans. -- ePUB
* Conformist, The (Farrar, Straus, 1951). Angus Davidson, trans.
* Conjugal Love (Penguin, 1964). Angus Davidson, trans. -- ePUB + PDF
* Conjugal Love (Other, 2007). Marina Harss, trans.
* Contempt (NYRB, 1999). Angus Davidson, trans. -- ePUB
* Empty Canvas, The (Penguin, 1965). Angus Davidson, trans. -- ePUB
* Fancy Dress Party, The (Penguin, 1968). Angus Davidson, trans.
* Five Novels (Farrar, Straus, 1955). A. Davidson et al, trans. (PDF by Mohamed5438)
* Ghost at Noon, A [included in Five Novels, above]. Angus Davidson, trans.
* Lie, The (FSG, 1966). Angus Davidson, trans.
* Luca [included in Five Novels, above]. Angus Davidson, trans.
* Mistaken Ambitions [included in Five Novels, above]. Arthur Livingston, trans.
* Time of Desecration (FSG, 1980). Angus Davidson, trans.
* Time of Indifference (Steerforth, 2000). T. Calliope, trans. (PDF by @Mohamed5438)
* Time of Indifference (Farrar Straus, 1953). Angus Davidson, trans.
* Two: A Phallic Novel (FSG, 1972). Angus Davidson, trans.
* Two Adolescents (Bantam, 1969). Beryl de Zoete & Angus Davidson, trans.
* Two Friends [La ciociara] (Other, 2011). Marina Harss, trans. -- ePUB
* Two Women [La ciociara] (FSG, 1958). Angus Davidson, trans.
* Voyeur, The (FSG, 1987). Tim Parks, trans.
* Woman of Rome, The (Steerforth, 1999). Tami Calliope, trans. -- ePUB
* Woman of Rome, The (Farrar, Straus, 1949). Lydia Holland, trans.
== SHORT STORIES ==
* Command, and I Will Obey You (FSG, 1969). Angus Davidson, trans.
* Erotic Tales (FSG, 1986). Tim Parks, trans.
* Fetish and Other Stories, The (FSG, 1965). A. Davidson, trans. [pp. 195-96 missing]
* More Roman Tales (Farrar Straus, 1964). Angus Davidson, trans.
* Roman Tales (Signet, 1959). Angus Davidson, trans.
== NON-FICTION ==
* Life of Moravia (Steerforth, 2000). W. Weaver, trans. (PDF by @Mohamed5438)
* Man as an End: A Defence of Humanism (Secker & Warburg, 1965). B. Wall, trans.
* Which Tribe Do You Belong To? (FSG, 1974). Angus Davidson, trans.
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